


To Flower

by literarynonsensefics



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Elriel, F/M, Flowers, Fluff, i would die for these kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 03:58:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13356024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literarynonsensefics/pseuds/literarynonsensefics
Summary: Elain meets Azriel in the greenhouse





	To Flower

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr @literarynonsense!

Elain’s hand paused mid-air as she confronted the doorknob.  It wasn’t a particularly outstanding doorknob, but in her head, she was repeating things she didn’t have the nerve to say out loud.  Why was she so damn nervous? **  
**

_Because you’re about to tell Azriel you love him, obviously._   The quip came to her in Feyre’s voice, without the steel hidden behind most of Nesta’s words.  Elain put her hand back at her side, staring at the door.  If Feyre were actually here, and not just a disembodied voice in her head, she would probably push the door open and shove Elain out to the garden.  But alas, Feyre was out with Rhys doing something important.  There was nobody here to force her to confront her fears.

Elain bit her lip, ignoring the way her arms still trembled at her sides.  She didn’t have to tell Azriel how she felt.  Ever since the war, they’d been friends.  Wonderful friends.  Elain didn’t want to ruin what they had.  She’d never been close to Graysen that way, never really wanted to be.  Looking back, everything between them felt so rushed.  They liked each other, and then they were engaged.  She loved him, sure, but not like this.  Not like she loved Az—which was another reason she had to tell him.  It wouldn’t be fair not to, and Elain wasn’t sure how long she could keep it a secret with Feyre and Nesta suspecting (and loudly voicing their concerns in public).

Behind the door, Elain heard a pot fall and she flinched.  Azriel told her he’d be in the garden all day, tending to his patch of the flowers she’d moved there.  It was one of the first things they did together post-Hybern—organize the garden on the roof of the House of Wind.  It was where they spent most of their time, either gardening in silence or letting the soft legato of the wind guide their conversation.  Once, she’d dragged him there to make flower crowns, and they couldn’t stop laughing for hours, but that was the loudest they’d ever been.  Neither were loud people by nature, so the garden was an escape for both.  A place to revel in someone’s quiet silence.  Elain’s heart ached, thinking of it.  Damnit, she loved him.

But she worried.  Worried so much sometimes it felt like she would split in two and never recover.  She worried he didn’t want to be more than friends, and would never want to.  Worried that he’d be disgusted.  Worried that she’d lose him.  Worried that he’d walk away from her.  Worried that he’d move on and she wouldn’t, because how could you turn back from the one thing you’d ever be able to love?  Being a seer didn’t help either, her powers would just keep pulling her back to that moment.  And she wouldn’t be able to get mad at him for it, because they were immortal and maybe relationships didn’t mean anything when you were alive for so long and-

Elain cut herself off.  There was a line she wouldn’t let herself cross in a spiral of anxieties and that was it.  Before she could stop herself, she pushed the door open.

And there, sitting on his knees, was Azriel.  There was a flower crown on his head, and his eyes were cast downwards at a plant.  His lips were moving, but he wasn’t speaking.  Elain took a tentative step forward and leaned down.

He was singing.  She didn’t understand what he was saying, but she’d heard it before.  It was a lullabye, something he’d sung for her only once before when she asked about Rhysand’s mother.  And he was singing it to a wilting flower.  Her eyes teared up at the corners.  “Azriel…”

“This- I-”  The Illyrian swept himself upwards, a cloud of shadows draped over his face like they were protecting him.  He was standing suddenly, and Elain almost broke down then and there.  He was beautiful—everyone around here seemed to be ridiculously beautiful—but there was a flash of fear in his eyes.  Of embarrassment.  Was he embarrassed?   **“It’s not what it looks like.”**

Elain let loose a laugh and walked over to him, taking one of his hands in hers.  “It looked like you were singing to one of your flowers.”  She gazed upwards at him, straight into his eyes, and smiled.  “Are you about to tell me you weren’t singing to one of your flowers?”

“Her name is Penelope,” he grumbled, and she laughed again.  “I heard somewhere that music makes plants grow better, so I wanted to try it out.”

“I could always help you.”  Azriel’s cheeks reddened and he looked down at her, like he was aghast she was even offering.

“It was meant to be-”  He shook his head.  “Nevermind.”  His eyes swept over her, inspecting her for anything out of the ordinary.  That was something that had taken getting used to, but Elain supposed it was a part of being a Shadowsinger. Those abilities weren’t really something he could turn off.  “Are you ok?  I heard you hesitating outside the door for a while.”

Her heart stumbled in her ribcage.   _Quiet!_   “I’m fine.”  As she said it, she realized it was true.  She shouldn’t have been nervous about talking to Az, it was stupid.  It was just him, and it was just her, and there was no point to anything if she didn’t tell him now.  “It was just thinking.”   _Now._   “It’s been a hard morning.”

Azriel’s eyebrows quirked up.  “Oh?  I’m sorry.  I guess I’ve been outside-”

“I love you!”  The words flew out of her mouth, and his eyes shot up.  Elain covered her mouth with her hands and took a step back.  “Oh gods I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“Elain?”  Az interrupted her to take a step forward.

“I don’t want to put you in a weird spot it’s just I’ve been thinking about it for ages and I get it if you don’t like me too-”

“Elain.”  He took another step towards her, even though she hadn’t retreated any further.  

“Gods, that’s what I was thinking about behind the door-”  Azriel grabbed her and slanted his lips over hers.  His arms found her waist, then the small of her back, and they stayed there.  Elain paused for one horrible moment, then responded.  She fell into the kiss, her toes curling in her sandals.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and let herself be pulled closer.  Closer to his chest.  Closer to  _him_.

After a beautiful minute (or maybe it was only a few seconds Elain wasn’t really counting) she pulled away.  Her hands didn’t move from his neck, and his didn’t move from her back.  They stared at each other like they were the only things in the entire world.  Like they weren’t in a rooftop garden in a city where more than a few residents had wings.  Where more than a few of their family members had wings, or the means to spot them.  Elain blushed at the thought on Mor or—oh gods— _Nesta_  barging in on them.  

“Was that ok?”  It took Elain a full minute to realize Azriel had spoken, and then another to respond.

“Yes.  That was…that was more than alright.”

“Ok.  Good.”  Elain let her body bask in the heat that he reverberated.  Graysen, she realized, had never held her like Azriel did.  Like she was the most precious thing in the world.  ,“I was so worried about telling you how I felt.  I don’t know why.”

“Because rejection is terrifying?”  She snorted and watched him watch her.  It was the scariest thing she’d ever experienced.  It was amazing.

“Because the thought of you leaving me gives me hives.”  Elain tucked her head against his chest.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.”

They stood together in silence, until Elain realized it wasn’t, in fact, silent.  Azriel was humming to her.  “What song is that?”

“The lullabye I was singing to Penelope.  It makes me- I don’t know.  It makes me happy.”

“Good,” Elain said, repeating his word.  Azriel continued humming but she caught his chin, forcing him to look at her.  “By the way, you haven’t said it back yet.”

“What?”  His eyes went wide.  “Oh, uh.”  Azriel sobered in her embrace, but she still saw the hint of mischief hiding in his eyes.  “Elain Archeron.”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”  There was no dramatic declaration.  No stumbling.  No awkwardness.  Just a simple statement of fact.  Like it was the one thing in the world he was sure of.

“Wonderful.”  Elain wrestled out of his arms and sat by Penelope, who looked much happier than she had been.   “Because I’m about to grill you about singing to this flower, and I’m not letting you escape.”

“I think I’m ok with that.”  Azriel’s voice was lighter than she’d ever heard it, and when she looked at him again, all she could think was how happy she was.

And how much prettier Azriel looked when he was smiling, surrounded by flowers.


End file.
